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Lesson 2 of 6
  • Year 4

Practising a rhythmic accompaniment

I can practise a new rhythmic accompaniment and recognise strategies I can use to improve.

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View unit
Lesson 2 of 6
New
New
  • Year 4

Practising a rhythmic accompaniment

I can practise a new rhythmic accompaniment and recognise strategies I can use to improve.

Download all

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. When practising, isolating the tricky parts to practise with purpose is a useful strategy to help us improve.
  2. Slowing the tempo whilst practising is a useful strategy to help achieve rhythmic accuracy.
  3. The rhythmic accompaniment plays an important role in an ensemble as it helps to keep everyone in time.
  4. Counting-in will help set a steady tempo and help us maintain a steady pulse.

Keywords

  • Practise - to deliberately make an effort to improve musical skills

  • Tempo - the speed of the music - how fast or slow the music is played

  • 2-time - the organisation and feel of the beats as strong-weak

  • Accompaniment - a musical part that supports the main melody or chant

  • Rest - a silence in music for a certain amount of time

Common misconception

When we practise, we just need to repeat the music a few times.

Thinking about what we want to improve and choosing the best stragtegy to help us is the best way to practise.


To help you plan your year 4 music lesson on: Practising a rhythmic accompaniment, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Support pupils to practise with purpose by helping them to isolate tricky parts of the music and think about how they can further improve their singing and playing.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Claves or similar percussion instruments.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
We to improve our musical skills.

Correct Answer: practise

Q2.
A phrase in music is ...

the pattern of sounds or silences we play or sing
Correct answer: a musical thought, like a sentence in a story
the combination of different layers of sounds
a combination of notes to make a memorable tune

Q3.
Which of these is a good practice strategy?

singing it through quickly
Correct answer: thinking about what needs improving and working on that
repeating the whole piece over and over again
not worrying about accuracy at this stage

Q4.
When we want to play in time, we need to feel the .

Correct Answer: pulse

Assessment exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
True or false? Practising with purpose is better than just repeating the piece over and over again.

Correct Answer: True, true

Q2.
2-time is ...

the organisation and feel of the beats as strong-weak-medium-weak
Correct answer: the organisation and feel of the beats as strong-weak
playing Ta-di rhythms
playing a melody twice through

Q3.
Which of these is not a useful strategy for practising?

isolating the tricky parts
slowing the tempo
Correct answer: playing it at performance speed and repeating it until it's secure
making sure the environment is right

Q4.
What musical word means the speed of the music?

Correct Answer: Tempo, tempo